The Final Jam
by xSimplyMex
Summary: Mitchie Torres is a New York resident with big dreams, but taking care of a seven year old can be very time consuming. One day, an important letter arrives at her apartment: Her boss wants to talk to her. What about, she doesn't know.
1. Chapter 1

**The Final Jam**

I sighed as I began to clean the floor of the entrance hall. It was normal that my boss asked me to do the cleaning, even though I was appointed as a cashier at the theater. I never declined though because New York was expensive as hell and I could use every penny I got, so if there was extra cash, you could count me in.

Had you asked me how I imagined my life after graduating this would definitely not have been my answer. When I graduated and left my parents' house in Long Island, I had big dreams; I wanted to make it in New York City. I wanted to be totally independent. I had planned to make it with my music - one of my dreams had always been to star in a Broadway production, but every audition I went to was the same: Either they told me my voice was good, great even, but not what they were looking for; or they said they needed someone with an established name and more experience.

Well how could I prove myself if I never got the chance? I didn't think they'd ever thought about that. Whenever a lot of money and fame is involved, people changed. I was proud to have stayed true to myself. My parents hated that I was not trying to become a doctor like them, but I refused to devote my life to a career I was not passionate about. Sure, I wasn't living the dream at the moment, but I was not going to give up.

When I looked up, I saw that I was almost done. I grabbed the bucket and poured the dirty water away. After putting everything back in the storage closet, the theater was clean and ready for that night's audience and I was ready to go pick up Matthew. I just needed to change back into my street clothes. It was slightly cold that day so I was wearing a long, knitted gray cardigan with black ripped skinny jeans and a simple white tank top.

Matt's school was only a few blocks away, so I could easily walk there. His teacher had asked to see me after they finish, so I sped up a little to make sure I was on time. When I reached the gates, I could already spot him playing with his classmates and confidently strode onto the school's property to greet his teacher. Just as I was about to reach her, I heard a tiny voice shout "Mimi!" I instantly smiled and turned around. "Matt!" I exclaimed just as happily and bent down to hug him and ruffled his hair. "I have to talk to Mrs. Hamilton real quick, so you can play with your buddies a little longer, okay?" I asked. "Okay," he grinned at me with his front tooth missing smile and ran off to play whatever they were playing before.

I took a deep breath before turning around and continuing my path towards the teacher. "Hello Mrs Hamilton, I'm Mitchie Torres, you wanted to talk to me?" I approached her. I felt really awkward...

"Yes, hello Ms Torres," she greeted with a friendly smile. "I wanted to talk to you because lately, Matthews grades have been slipping, not much, but I'm worried about him, he used to be such a good student. If I may ask, are you sure you can take care of a seven year old? I mean, your barely out of high school..."

She had to be kidding me. Of course I could take care of Matt! How did she dare to judge me on the basis of my age?! Would I have taken on this responsibility if I thought I couldn't do it? No! I closed my eyes for a second and told myself to stay calm. I was used to people judging me for becoming Matt's legal guardian when I was nineteen, but none of them cared enough to ask for the story behind it.

"Yes, I know I'm only twenty years old, but that has nothing to do with my ability to take care of Matt. I have noticed that his grades are slipping and I've talked to him about it. He told me he's been having trouble to concentrate because some of his classmates are really loud during class. With all due respect, but maybe that's where you should start looking instead of questioning my abilities," I said as calmly as I could, looking directly in her eyes. Something in her gaze changed, she looked almost as if she was impressed.

"...You're right, there is indeed a lot of noise in class. I will talk to the other teachers about it...I'm sorry if I insulted you," she sighs. I shook my head with a small smile.

"It's fine, but thank you. If that's all, I really have to go," I said. "Have a nice day."

I smiled as I looked to my left and saw Matthew and a few of his friends playing soccer on the grass, having made makeshift goals by putting their backpacks on the ground as the 'posts'. He looked so happy running around with his little buddies and that was all I needed to know that I'd made the right decision. "Matthew, you ready?" I shouted. "I'm coming! Bye guys!" he shouted as he quickly grabbed his small backpack. It was blue and had the red sports car from the movie 'Cars' all over it. He picked it because it was his favorite movie and because he wanted to own a car_ "just as cool and fast as Lightning McQueen"_ when he got older.

"Did you have a good day?" I asked as I grabbed his hand to make sure he didn't get separated from me in the busy streets of New York.

"Yeah! In music class Mrs Simmons allowed me to help her play the piano. It was really cool!" he said excitedly.

"That's awesome! How about we make some music after you finish your homework?" I suggested. I hadn't written a lot lately...I had had zero inspiration, all songs I had written had ended up being really depressive and that's not what I wanted. I wanted to make music that inspired others and made them happy.

"Yes! And can we have pizza tonight?" he asked nearly bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Hmm, we'll see about that. You need to eat your veggies too," I reminded him.

"But Mimi! Pizza is so much better, it has _cheese_!" he said, his eyes widening as he emphasized the word cheese.

"I know. But if you don't want to get sick, you need to eat the healthy stuff too," I chuckled.

* * *

><p>We came to a halt in front of our apartment complex. I quickly pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. Matt ran in before me and started climbing the stairs to our apartment that was on the second floor. I decided to open the post box to see if we had got mail and pulled out a couple of envelopes. Two were for me and the rest were for my roommate, Caitlyn. I closed the box again and quickly walked up the stairs where Matt was waiting impatiently.<p>

I opened the door and watched as he immediately bounced in "Mimi, I've got to pee pee," he told me.

"Well, you're a big boy now, go on, you know the way," I said and on afterthought added "And don't forget to wash your hands!"

I closed the door and took my shoes off and then put on my fuzzy bunny slippers, I know mature, right? But they were really comfy and they kept my cold feet warm. I sat down in the kitchen and decided to open the letters I got. One was some kind of membership campaign, asking me to join them on their journey to do whatever the heck they were doing...I didn't read it till the end. But the other one was from my boss, apparently I needed to come and see him that Thursday about an 'urgent matter'. Why didn't Frank, the manager of the theater and my other boss, just ask me? Why was the owner of _the_ Helen Hayes Theatre asking to see _me_ in person? I'd met him a couple of times and he was always very nice to me. He even remembered my name at the Christmas party the year before and stopped to ask how I was doing. I was only a cashier, but he still remembered. He knew every employee by name, even though he wasn't around most of the time. I was still impressed by that, but I was more than a little curious about that meeting.

"Will you help me with my homework, Mimi?" Matt's voice startled me.

"Sure, I'll be with you in a few. I'm just gonna fix us a little snack, alright?" I asked getting up and walking over to the counter to get out two small bowls and a knife.

"Okay," he agreed and went back into the living room.

I grabbed some carrots and an apple and washed them before starting to peel the carrots and cutting them in smaller sticks. After that I took the apple and quickly cut it in about eight slices. I took both bowls to the coffee table where Matt was using his fingers to count.

"five,..., seven!" I heard him mumble before he wrote down the solution. He was so smart, he didn't even need my help, but he loved to do stuff with me. Whenever we were home he always came to ask what I'm doing. I put the bowls on the table and sat down on the couch. I waited for him to write down the solution of the problem he was solving.

"So, how far did you get?" I asked.

"I'm almost done and after this I only have to do English," he announced proudly.

"That's good! There's snacks on the table if you want them," I told him.

"Does that mean we'll have pizza later?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, but we're going to wait till Caity comes home from the studio," I said.

"Yay!" he exclaimed. I smiled. His happiness was contagious. After everything he'd been through you'd think he'd be a sad little boy, but he was the opposite. Matthew could brighten anybody's day. I looked over at him and saw that he'd moved on to his English homework.

"Mimi?" he asked.

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"What does this mean? How do I say it? An-an-anch-" he pointed to his worksheet.

"You mean ancestor?" I asked.

"Yeah, an-ancestor, what's that?" he repeated after me, still stumbling a little over the unfamiliar word.

"Uhmm...okay, so for example when I visit my grandparents that means that I'm also visiting my ancestors. But my ancestors are not only my grandparents, they're also my parents, my uncles, my aunts and everybody from my family that is older than me. Do you understand that?" I tried to explain.

"Yeah...so an ancestor is from your family and older than you, right?" he asked.

"Yes, You got it!" I said proudly.

I watched him scribble a few more words onto the sheet; such as strength, might, flight and bright. He had to write each word four times to practice the spelling and the letters. It was kinda weird... I never thought I'd be taking care of a kid so soon, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I was glad I had found him in the streets eight months ago.

"Done!" Matt startled me from my little walk down memory lane.

"Good job! Now what do you want to do? You wanna help me write that song or you wanna do something else?" I asked while he packed his stuff in his backpack for the next day.

"Can we go play in my room?" he asked with hopeful eyes.

"Sure," I smiled as I watched him jump up and race to his room. When I heard a loud clattering noise, I knew he just emptied his entire box of toy cars onto the floor. _Sigh_. I entered his room and found him already on the floor 'driving' his favorite blue car down the streets on his toy rug.

"Come on Mimi, you can take the black one and we'll have a race to the gas station!"

"Okay...Ready?" I set my car down next to his.

"Yeah...Go!" he shouted enthusiastically and started to push his car to the far end of the rug.

"Wait! You're so fast, I can't keep up!" I exclaimed, pushing my car way slower than he was his.

"Brr" he imitated a speeding car "Finish! I won!" he shouted happily.

"Aww...man!" I said, pretending to be really frustrated. Matt only smiled at me and patted my arm.

"Don't worry, maybe you'll win next time."

"Thanks. So...what should we do now?"

"Easy! We'll drive around town and we have to catch the bad guys and then bring them to the police station, 'cause we're special agents:" he told me.

"Alright Agent Campbell lead us to our targets!" I played along.

"Okay Agent Torres, I think they were last seen close to the store. Let's go!" he informed me in a serious voice.

* * *

><p>We continued to look for criminals and fought for justice for about an hour when Matthew suddenly decided that he wanted to help me write a song. So I told him to put his cars back into the box and to come to my room after that. I got my guitar from it's stand next to my dresser and sat down on my bed, waiting for him to come in. I noticed that we never ate the fruit I cut up, so I quickly went into the living room to take it to my room for us to snack on. It was only three pm, so it'd be at least three more hours till Caity came home. The weird thing was that my best friend and roomie was working at a recording studio, but still couldn't suggest me as a new client because she was only an intern at the moment. The one time I actually had a connection to someone in the music business and she couldn't recommend me until she was fully employed. The world really sucked sometimes...<p>

Suddenly Matt ran into the room and threw himself on my bed grinning cheekily at me. I shook my head and continued strumming the melody I had been playing subconsciously for the past few minutes, it was kind of upbeat and happy. Hmm...I wondered what lyrics I, we, could come up with.

"So? What do you think?" I asked him after I was done. He put on his thinking face, sucking in his lower lip and squinting his eyes before giving me a thumbs up.

"I think it's cool! It makes me wanna stand up on the bed and jump till I reach the moon!" He babbled excitedly.

"Actually, that's a great idea!" I said thinking of a way to put his words into lyrics, before I realized my mistake "And by that I mean great idea for the lyrics. So no jumping around on my poor mattress," I quickly added. Matt sighed loudly.

"Fine!"

I giggled at his dramatic antics. He sometimes made me wanna be a child again, the way he was so full of life and love...it was amazing. Wow, this all really does make a good song, I thought and quickly scribbled down a few keywords and lines that came to my mind. I might have a chorus!

"Hey Matt what do you think of this?" I asked and began playing him the possible chorus. "_So stand up for the love, love, love. So stand up for the love, love, love. So stand up for the love, love, love. So stand up, stand up, for the love, love_," I strummed before I was hit with a new idea "_'Cause you're as old as you feel you are. And if you don't reach for the moon you can't fall on the stars. So I live my life like every day is the last, last, last..._" I added spontaneously and looked to Matt for approval. He was nodding his head excitedly and jumped up, starting to bounce on my bed "So stand up for the love, love, love!" he sang gleefully while bouncing up and down.

We continued working on the song for at least two more hours with him munching on the apples and carrots and me scribbling and crossing out lyrics that came to my mind.

"Mimi I'm bored!" Matt complained.

"Okay, how about you go watch some TV until Caity comes back?" I suggested, knowing that it wouldn't be much longer till she would return from work. I didn't really like him watching a lot of TV because in my opinion it's important that kids spend their days running around having fun instead of being flooded by fast and colorful images from the television. The way parents left their children to fend with technology these days never failed to amaze me. I never had an iPhone as a kindergartener and I turned out fine... I think. What did three year-olds even need smartphones and tablets for? It confused me.

"Okay!" he said and got up to turn it on in the living room.

* * *

><p>While I was alone in my room my mind wandered to different things. First I thought about the meeting I would have with my boss in two days, what could he want after all? If I was fired they surely would've just sent a letter stating the fact, so why all this effort? Then I thought about my future, would I ever make it in the music industry? Would my dreams come true? Would I be able to afford my own apartment one day? Would I be able to give Matt the care he needed? Most questions came back to one thing – money. I really needed a better paying job.<p>

When I heard keys jingle in the lock, I knew Caitlyn had returned from work, so I got up and left my room.

"I'm home!" she called out like she always did.

"I know," I said.

"Hi Caitlyn!" Matt popped up behind me. "Did Mimi tell you? We're having pizza night!" he said happily.

"Nope she didn't, but thanks for telling me! I could totally go for some cheesy goodness," Caity said, nearly as excited as Matthew.

"See Mimi! Cait thinks pizza is awesome, too!"

"Don't listen to Mitchie, Matt. She's a health nut, such a party pooper," Caitlyn pretended to whisper. I rolled my eyes.

"Just because I don't always stuff my face with junk food, doesn't mean I'm a 'party pooper'," I said making air quotes.

"Whatever you say Mitch. Now let's order those pizzas, I'm starving!" she whined.

"I'm on it, jeez. Am I living with two kids now?" I huffed, pulling out my cell to order from Luigi's.

"I want one with extra cheese and ham!" Matt told me.

"Oh! I'll take one with pineapple and ham!" Caity said, jumping up and down, pretending to be a kid just to annoy me.

"Hello! I would like to order one small pizza with ham and extra cheese, and two regular sized ones. One with pineapple and ham and one with mushroom and bell peppers...Yes that would be all, thanks," I said and gave him our address.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later we all had our pizzas in front of us and were watching The Voice on television. Caitlyn peered onto my plate and crinkled her nose, pretending to gag.<p>

"Mitch, how do you eat that? You ruined an entire pizza with all that yucky stuff on there," she told me.

"Ugh, just eat your pizza Cait. I can eat whatever I want on mine," I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved her.

After we finished out pizza's we watched TV for about half an hour before Matt let out a huge yawn.

"Come on, Matt, sleepy time," I chuckled when he tried to look wide awake.

"No, I'm not tired yet!" he protested.

"Matt, it's time for bed, go brush your teeth," I said.

"I don't want to!" he stomped his foot. He looked so cute I wanted to laugh.

"But you're going to. You have school tomorrow, now go!" I said sternly.

"No!"

"Matthew you know that I'm not kidding. Get ready for bed or you can forget about going to Jamie's birthday party on Saturday," I told him. I hated when I had to be so strict, but I was not going to let him become a spoiled brat. I knew what it was like to be spoiled by your parents and I also knew the outcome.

"But..."

"I'm counting to ten. If you're not in the bathroom by then, you won't be going. One...Two..." I started counting waiting for him to cave. When I got to five he started squirming and went into the bathroom angrily. I got up to clean up the table and then followed him. He was nearly falling asleep while brushing his teeth.

He waited for the sand glass to be full on the bottom before spitting into the sink and washing his face. I dabbed his face dry with a soft towel and then tucked him in, grateful that he had changed into his PJ's before dinner.

"Goodnight Matt, sweet dreams," I said kissing his forehead and turning off the lights on my way out, leaving his door slightly open though, because he couldn't sleep with it closed.

After that I went into the kitchen to make myself some tea and to put our dirty plates into the dishwasher. When I was done with that I took my cup with me and sat down next to Cait who was watching some action movie by then.

"So how was work?" I asked while getting comfortable on our small couch.

"Eh work, was work. They let me help and stuff, but I feel like it's going to be ages until I'm gonna be a real employee and I wanna be a producer already. I really think I'm ready, but I feel like they don't see it," she sighed.

"They're really stupid if they can't see your talent. I'm sure they'll come to their senses soon," I said reassuringly.

"Let's hope so, but enough of me. How was your day?" she asked.

"Well you know that I sometimes help clean the theater, so that's what I did before I went to pick Matt up. You know what the teacher asked me? She asked me if I thought I was able to take care of Matt, because his grades were slipping! She had to accuse me instead of looking what was right in front of her nose! Her students are too loud during class, that's Matt's problem!" I ranted.

"Whoa, people are so ignorant. And you totally need a new job, you're wasting your time there," Caity said.

"Yeah, I know...I'm gonna start looking soon. Oh! I forgot to tell you...my boss, like my _real _boss, wants to meet up with _me_ on Thursday and I have no idea why," I told her then took a huge sip of my tea, totally forgetting that it was still too hot. "Shit!" I interrupted her involuntarily. "Ouch! Damnit!" I cursed.

"Shit! Are you okay?" Cait laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry continue," I said still wincing at my scalded tongue.

"Right! Where was I? Oh, maybe you're getting a promotion? That would be great wouldn't it? But I really don't know what he could want...but it must be important I'm guessing," she said folding her legs underneath her.

"I really don't know what to expect from it, but I'll ask Frank about it tomorrow," I let out a yawn.

"Looks like it's sleepy time for Mimi," Caity mocked.

"Haha. Funny. But yeah, I'm going to bed. Night," I said getting up and shuffling into the bathroom to do my nightly routine.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi there! I'm finally back to writing fanfiction... the idea for this story has been in my head for a while now and I finally found the time to type it out. I have a lot planned for this one, so I hope you liked it!<strong>

**Please leave me a review and tell me what you think! I won't be updating if I get the feeling nobody's interested, but that's okay, too. Just tell me if you want me to continue or not. Also, I am writing in the first person perspective for the first time, what did you think of that? Did I manage okay? :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

My alarm woke me up early and since I was in a happy mood (which was unusual for early mornings or mornings in general) I decided to wear a white floral dress with a light wash denim jacket and my favorite four-inch wedges. I let my long wavy brown hair do its thing and kept my make-up natural. After I was ready, I woke up Matt and helped him pick what he wanted to wear before making us breakfast.

Matt, sleepily, but dressed for school, came into the kitchen just as I had finished his lunchbox.

"Morning," I greeted.

"Morning Mimi," he yawned and waited for me to pour the milk into his cereal.

After breakfast I let him brush his teeth first while I got my phone, keys and other things ready to stuff in my bag. I also took my guitar to the front door.

When we were both ready to leave, I slung my bag over my shoulder grabbed my guitar case and locked the door after us.

The streets were busy as always, but we made it in time. I bent down to Matt to give him a hug and wish him a lot of fun. I stayed in front of the gates till he was safely inside the school.

The sun was shining brightly, casting a beautiful glow on the masses of people moving hectically through the streets, trying to reach their destination as quick as possible. I had already gotten used to the tempo of New York, so I walked just as quickly as the other people and soon reached Broadway.

When I opened the staff entrance, I went directly to the small office section of the theater, looking for Frank. I knocked twice and waited for a reply before opening the door.

"Oh hello, Mitchie. What can I do for you?" he asked in a friendly way. I really loved both my bosses, they were nice and never looked down on any of the employees. That was pretty hard to find nowadays. Money corrupted everyone. I never wanted to become one of those people.

"Hi! I was just wondering if you knew why Mr. Coleman wants to see me tomorrow, I'm not getting fired, am I?" I asked worriedly, I needed this job after all.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can tell you, but you're definitely not going to be fired," he chuckled at my worry.

"Oh, okay. Well then, thanks I guess..." I said "I'll be back for work at five," I assured him on my way out.

"Have a nice day!"

"Thanks, you too, Frank."

Phew...at least I was not losing my job. Sadly, that didn't help my curiosity. I wanted to know what this meeting was going to be about so badly. Good thing that Kelsey had texted me the night before, telling me that they needed a performer for the next day asking if I was up for it. Since the coffee shop she worked in was out of walking distance, I hailed a cab.

It took me some time to get there because traffic just sucks in New York. Besides the fact that I didn't have enough money, it was the main reason I didn't own a car. I paid the driver and grabbed my guitar, hurrying into _"The Coffee Spot". _It was a pretty popular place with lots of customers, I was pretty proud that I got to perform there.

Kelsey was already busy working behind the counter, so I only gave a short wave and went to the stage of the diner/ coffee shop. Riley, the tech guy, was messing with some tunes, so I stood next to him until he was done.

"Hey Mitch!" he greeted, pulling me in a hug.

"Hey Riley!" I mocked.

"Ugh, why do I help you set up again?" he complained.

"Because I have the voice of an angel and you _love_ to hear me sing," I said innocently.

"Whatever," he chuckled "And I never said that."

"But it was implied, right?" I pouted playfully.

"Yeah, yeah," he shrugged and took my guitar case out of my hand.

"So how long do I have today?" I asked.

"Well it's about ten right now, so you have like an hour, cause we have a few other performers coming in later on," Riley said while plugging my guitar to the amplifier. "You need time to warm up?" he asked.

"Not much, like five minutes...could you get me some water?" I asked.

"Sure, you know where to go to warm up," he said before going to get me a bottle of water.

I made my way to the break room to do some scales and other stuff that looked really stupid, but actually helped a lot to loosen your vocal chords. Riley came in soon and handed me the water, I thanked him and took a few sips before taking my spot on the small stage. My guitar was waiting for me and the mic was on.

"Hey guys, my name is Mitchie Torres and if you don't mind I'm going to play a few songs for you," I greeted the people that were inside. Some looked up from their conversations, some didn't, but I didn't let it bother me.

"The first song I'm going to play is called "Remember December", I hope you enjoy it," I continued and smiled when I heard a few whistles.

"_Don't surrender, surrender, surrender  
>Please remember, remember December<br>We were so in love back then  
>Now you're listening to what they say, don't go that way<br>Remember, remember December  
>Please remember, don't surrender," <em>I finished the acoustic version of one of my older songs. It was a sad song to me because it was about my last boyfriend, Brian, he was the first guy I really fell in love with, but I guess I didn't mean the same to him as he meant to me...the cheers of the crowd however helped me leave the sad feeling the song brought on behind.

I filled the hour with more performances of my original songs and was happy to see people putting money in my open guitar case, I got a few phone numbers too, but I chose to throw them away. I counted the money and I had made about fifty dollars! I usually didn't make that much, but apparently it was a good day.

After I got the money the shop was paying me, which was another twenty dollars, I hugged Kelsey and Riley goodbye and took the subway home. I still had some time left until Matt finished school, so I decided to turn on my laptop to see what was going on.

I logged into my rarely used Facebook account and began checking my notifications...I had two new likes on my profile picture and one invitation to a party from two weeks ago. After I marked my notifications as read, I started scrolling down my timeline, to see what crap people had decided to post. I saw a couple of party pics from a few of my high school friends, all of them looking pretty wasted, I could only shake my head at their stupidity. Continuing my scrolling I saw that my sister had added twenty new pictures to an album titled "Loving life". I clicked on the link and went through them; the first few showed Ava posing in various dresses, then there were a few pictures of shoes she'd bought and last but certainly not least a picture of her in front of her fiancé's yacht.

I loved Ava, I really did, but she was incredibly superficial. I blame a part of it on my parents, two of New York's best surgeons, who spoiled us to no end when we were younger. I used to get literally everything I wanted; new clothes, an expensive makeover just because I felt like it, a brand new car and the list goes on. The same went for my big sister, except that she made them proud with her choice of going to college to become a real estate agent. I, however, had decided to skip college and devote my life to becoming a musician, therefore I had lost the status of being my parents' "little angel". They didn't disown me or anything and they still invited me for the holidays, but they refused to support my dream, because they believed that as a good student and their daughter, I was meant to go to university and become a successful academic. So while I was trying to make it as a musician without their money, I actually learned to appreciate the things I had a lot more. My sister, though, was still able to continue her materialistic life, having my parents' full support, so I'm guessing she's never even experienced how it felt to _have_ to make money.

After that I scrolled some more, but didn't find anything interesting, so I logged out and just put some music on and connected my laptop to the speakers in the living room.

* * *

><p>The day went on like any other day, I picked Matt up from school, helped him do his homework and cooked food for us. After that I went to work while Caitlyn watched Matthew as usual. When I came home I was exhausted and immediately crashed on my bed.<p>

The next day, however, was when things got interesting. I got up and quickly threw on the outfit I had picked the day before. Then I started to prepare Matt's lunchbox and woke him up, so he could get ready for school. We had a quick breakfast before we had to leave so that Matt would be on time.

When we arrived at school, I knelt down to his height "Remember, Cait is going to pick you up today, alright?" I asked.

He nodded "But why?"

"I have this meeting with my boss and I don't know yet when I'll get home, so I asked Caity to come. Now go have fun at school, I'll see you at home!" I explained and ruffled his dirty blonde hair. He nodded once again before rushing to join his friends.

I quickly went home and got ready for my meeting with Mr. Coleman. Basically, I touched up my make-up, adding some color to my lips and switched my basic T-shirt to a loose-fitting button up blouse to go with my black skinny jeans and pumps.

Since I still had some time to kill, I sat down in front of the TV and watched a few re-runs of NCIS. Just as they were about to catch the murderer, I realized that I had to get going, so I quickly switched off the TV and grabbed my purse.

Mr. Coleman had asked me to meet him over lunch in this popular Upper East Side restaurant, so I hailed a cab and told the driver where to go. My leg bounced down and up the entire ride, I think the driver was starting to get really annoyed with me. When we finally arrived, I was so nervous, it was almost unbearable. Frank told me that there was nothing to be afraid of and I knew that it was probably true, but I couldn't help it. I quickly paid the fare and stepped out of the car.

* * *

><p><strong>So this was chapter number two. Thank you so much for the reviews, although I have a feeling it was only one person. They're still just as appreciated :D Tell me what you think of this one? :)<strong>

**Oh and if any of you would like to chat or get some spoilers, you can follow me on Twitter: xsiimplymeex**

**- Love xSimplyMex**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

I told myself to stay cool while walking towards the doors, straightening my back and confidently swaying my hips, I walked in there as if I owned the place. I asked for a reservation under Coleman and the maître d' pointed to a table near the windows on the left side. I thanked him and started my walk towards the table my boss was already waiting at.

"Hi Mr. Coleman, I hope you haven't been waiting for too long," I greeted with a smile, hoping to appear sure of myself.

"No, it's quite alright, I have only been here for about five minutes," he smiled, gesturing for me to sit down. I blushed slightly, but obliged.

"How have you been?" he then asked kindly.

"I've been good, thank you. Matt's good, too. How are you and your wife?" I replied, feeling slightly more comfortable.

"Oh, right the little one, can't forget about him. We're good, although my daughter's going through her rebel phase," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I remember when I was about sixteen I used to change my hair all the time, I actually dyed it blue one time...can't say my parents liked it. But it will pass," I smiled.

"Now I am really glad that she only dyed her hair black."

Our friendly chat was interrupted when we were asked to place our orders.

"You're probably wondering why you're here, aren't you?" he asked after the waiter left to get our drinks.

"Yes, I have to admit I was shaking before I came here, because I really hope I'm not going to get fired," I said, my cheeks reddening.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. Actually, it's the opposite."

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't understand," I was confused.

"Tell me, Ms. Torres, do you like to sing and act?" he suddenly asked.

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" I was majorly confused.

"Well do you think you're any good?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you think you can sing?" he asked again.

"Yes," I decided to just answer his random questions.

"Well I haven't heard you live yet, but I've been told that you are quite the singer, so what I am actually asking you is to audition for our new production," he finally told me. Oh my God. He had to be kidding.

"Are you serious?" I asked, trying to mask my excitement, when on the inside I was practically dancing on the table.

"Yes, we're looking for fresh, new faces to promote and your name just happened to be thrown into the conversation," he smiled.

"I can't believe it. I- thank you SO much! I've been waiting for an opportunity like this ever since I came here," I say happily, happy tears stinging my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away.

Just as Mr. Coleman was about to reply our food finally appeared.

"I am happy, you're so excited about this. I would really love to hire you, if your audition goes well," he said.

"I hope I'll be able to impress you. But if you don't mind me asking what is the musical going to be about?" I asked curiously.

"That's alright. It is going to be called 'The Final Jam' and it is going to be about several schools competing against each other with their choirs. It's going to have some romantic action as well as some enemy scheming," he told me.

"Sounds intriguing. Do you already have set dates for auditions?"

"Yes we have and it's actually quite soon, this Saturday starting at ten am."

"I will definitely be there. What should I prepare?"

"I'm looking forward to it. You should prepare two of your favorite songs, it would be good if they were completely different and if you want to you can bring an instrument. You will be given a script to practice after your singing audition, so if your singing was convincing you get to prove your acting," Mr. Coleman explained.

"I think I can do that, thank you so much, Sir," I thanked him again.

We had nearly finished our lunch, so when we did and he payed, I thanked him one last time and went my way home. When I rounded the corner I squealed happily, not caring who heard.

I practically flew home and when I finally did, I was bursting with excitement.

"I'm home!" I exclaimed loudly, waiting for either Matt or Caity to greet me so I could hug them to death. Well not really to death, but extremely tight... you get the drift.

I smiled widely when I heard two pairs of feet coming towards me, I couldn't hold it in any longer; I let out a loud squeal and pulled Caitlyn in a tight hug.

"Mitch...Mitchie! You're squishing me! What's up with you?" she laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy," I said and bent down to hug Matt, too.

"I'm guessing that meeting went well then," Cait smiled.

"Yes! Come on, let's cook something to celebrate!"

"Sure, on one condition: What _are_ we celebrating?" she asked, throwing her arms up in wonder, a typical Caitlyn move.

"Oh! Right! I got asked to audition for a part in this new musical my boss is launching and if I'm good enough I might have a shot at the main part!" I said with a huge smile.

"Wow, that's crazy! I'm so happy for you, bestie!" she exclaimed and pulled me into another hug.

We spent the rest of the day celebrating with a nice home cooked meal and lots of music. Our apartment was basically filled with our singing along to any and every song we knew and our laughter at how horribly wrong we got the lyrics at times. It was amazing, I couldn't wait for Saturday to come.

* * *

><p>"Mimi, are you going to be famous?" Matt asked me on Friday when I was tucking him in. I held back a chuckle at his innocence; he thought one musical could make me as famous as Angelina Jolie.<p>

"I don't think one musical is going to make me famous. I'd have to be really lucky," I smiled, playing with the corner of his frog green blanket.

"But you're awesome, of course you're going to be a star!" he argued.

"Aww, thanks buddy, but I don't think it works like that. It's going to take time for people to know my name. I will have to work my butt off to get all those big roles I've always dreamed of," I laughed.

"You're going to be so busy... will you forget about me?" he asked in a small voice.

"Oh, Matt! Of course not! You're still my number one man, I could never forget you!" I exclaimed and hugged him close to me, pressing a kiss on his forehead.

"Pinky swear?" he asked, cuddling up to me. I smiled and held out my pinky to him "I pinky swear," I promised.

"I love you, Mimi," he yawned, his eyes drooping.

"I love you too, Matt. Now go to sleep. Sweet dreams," I said before closing his door halfway, so he could still see some light from the hallway.

* * *

><p>It was raining buckets when I left the house to take a cab to the theater, so as hard as I tried not to get my hair or outfit wet, I did not succeed. My jeans had gotten a huge splash of water on them when a car drove through a puddle right in front of me and my straightened hair was starting to get wavy again. On my way to the 44th Street, I was freaking out. I didn't have a mirror and my phone didn't help much to see how much damage the rain had done to my outfit. It was horrible. Not because I'm focused on my looks or anything, but because I had to make a great impression. Any other day and I would've laughed it off, but at that moment I could only try to stay calm.<p>

After twenty minutes I finally reached my destination and payed the driver before rushing into the theater. When I entered the lobby, I saw a lot of girls and guys waiting anxiously for their audition. I looked around for a free spot and ended up finding an empty chair. After putting down my guitar next to it, I sat down and waited for somebody in charge to come and inform us about the auditioning process.

Ten minutes later the door was closed and a man with an authoritative appearance stepped up in front of the crowd.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen. We would like to thank you all for coming to this audition. You will have the opportunity to audition either for one of the bigger parts or in a general audition where the producers will decide which role they'd like you to play. Of course, if you do not get the role you were aiming for, there is still the possibility of being chosen to play a different character," he told us in a clear, confident voice. Speaking slow enough to make sure everyone understood the procedure they had planned.

"We are going to start with the general auditions during which the one's planning to audition for a specific part will be given the chance to study a small part of the script to act out or to change their mind and choose to audition for no particular role," he continued looking around to see if there were any questions.

"There are five different scripts, two are for the main characters and the other three are also bigger parts although smaller than the other two of course. An overview of all five characters is placed on the table behind me, I suggest you read that sheet first before making your decision. You will then write your name on the list for the part you're auditioning for and the auditions will be held in that order for each character," he said once again looking around for any questioning looks.

"Well, if there are no questions, we wish you the best of luck and look forward to see your performances," he smiled and disappeared back into the auditorium.

I made my way over to the table where the sheet with all the characters was placed, though I already knew that I was going to try out for the female lead.

_Jade Garcia:_

_A junior at Rochester High in Rochester Hills, Michigan who has taken the spot of the lead singer in the school's choir after transferring from a school in Emmet County._

_She is the ordinary girl next door with a talent many envy her for. Like Morgan Taylor who used to be the lead singer before Jade arrived._

_Jade is not the popular type; she mostly keeps to herself and even in choir where she has the biggest spot, she rarely ever speaks up, she just does as the teacher says. This makes other choir members assume that she doesn't care about her solos. Rosie Evans is the only person Jade really interacts with; they aren't really friends, they sometimes even hate each other, but they can work together when they have the same goal. _

_Alex Carlton is Jade's boyfriend back from Emmet County. Nobody knows about their relationship since they met in the summer Jade moved to Oakland County and didn't see any use in telling everybody about their relationship._

After reading about the other roles, I made my way over to the list to sign up for the role of Jade. I quickly grabbed the script and made my way to a quiet corner to memorize my lines. The part of the script I had was actually pretty good, though it seemed more like High School Musical or something like that to me than a real Broadway production, but I guess they meant for it to be that way.

Throughout the next two hours they were calling out names, until, finally, it was my turn. Squaring my shoulders, I put on my 'Boss-mode' and strolled into the auditorium with my head held high. I honestly don't know how I did that, because on the inside I was a nervous wreck. On my way up the stairs of the stage I had to trip of course and nearly lost it.

"Hi everyone. My name is Mitchie Torres, I am nineteen years old and I live here in Manhattan," I introduced myself with a smile. Mr. Coleman was nodding at me reassuringly.

"Very well Ms. Torres. Do you have any experience with musical theater?" A bald man asked me.

"I have always been fascinated by the way it combines music, dance and acting. Ever since I was little I always wanted to be a part of a Broadway production, but so far I haven't had a role. I have been auditioning tough," I replied confidently. This musical would consist of pop music, exactly the reason why my voice was never chosen in all the other auditions.

"What songs do you have prepared for us?" a woman with bright red hair asked me. She looked like an artist, maybe she's in charge of the vocals?

"I have prepared two songs; one cover and one original," I said hoping they wouldn't ask me to perform two covers, though I was prepared for that, too.

"Really, an original? We've had that multiple times today, so I can only advise you to think real hard if your song is good enough," the woman spoke again, looking slightly unnerved.

"I am pretty content with the song, I wrote it probably a year ago and my friend produced the track for me, so I'm gonna play it," I said with a confident smile. Caitlyn was an amazing producer and this was one of my favorite songs she had mixed for me, so I just had to prove them wrong. I gave Tim, who was handling the music, a sign to start playing the track.

"This is Got Dynamite."

The sound of electric guitars and the percussion started to fill the room. I started to sway with it, my hand on the microphone, feeling the alluring, sexy vibe the song had. When my cue came, I started to sing, losing myself in the music while making sure to keep a fierce look on my face that fit the emotions and the sound of the song.

"_When the walls come crashing down  
>I hope you're standing right in front of me<br>When my past lies all around_

_'Cause all you need to save me is to intervene,"_ I sang the quieter part, my favorite part of the song, preparing to belt the shit out of the next few notes.  
><em>"And make the walls come crashing down<br>Got, got dynamite?" _I belted clearly and successfully, keeping my eyes on the jury. They looked impressed, one of them then raised their hand to have the music stopped.

"Could we hear the second song?" the bald man asked. _Shit_. _They didn't like it. I'm such an idiot. I should've stuck to what they said.  
><em>"Yeah, just a second," I said and completely nervous, but refusing to show it, got my guitar out of its case. I checked if it was correctly tuned and turned back to the judges.  
>"I'm going to play 'Photograph' by Ed Sheeran," I tried to keep a straight face.<p>

I started to strum the beautiful melody of one of my favorite songs.

"_We keep this love in a photograph  
>We make these memories for ourselves<br>Where our eyes are never closing  
>Our hearts were never broken<br>And times forever frozen still  
>So you can keep me<br>Inside the pocket  
>Of your ripped jeans<br>Holdin' me closer  
>Till our eyes meet<br>You won't ever be alone," _I sang the second chorus before I was, once again, stopped.

_Wow! Either they really didn't like me or they were playing with me to make me insecure. Okay, I'm going with the second option, it's better for my ego, _I thought.  
>"We would like to see you act out the scene you prepared now," the red haired woman said, smiling slightly. I hoped that it was a good sign.<p>

I put my guitar back in its case and put on an angry face.  
>"Ugh, Morgan, I know that you hate me, but why'd you have to do that?! Huh?! I didn't do anything to you and then you do this? You know, I thought we were at least somewhere close to respecting each other," my expression changed to one of sadness. "You don't even <em>know<em> what you started! I'm so humiliated! My boyfriend thinks I _cheated_ on him thanks to _you_! He probably isn't even my boyfriend anymore...thanks a lot," I hissed, a few tears escaping my eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Will Mitchie get the role? Or did she mess up? If you wanna know, drop me a review and I'll post the next chapter ;)<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N.:**** A big THANK YOU to everyone who is still reading. I'm sorry for not updating in so long, but truth is I've kind of been unmotivated by the lack of reviews. I guess I can't really expect many since this fandom is slowly 'dying', it's been six years since the first part after all.**** I was very excited to see a new review today, SO shout out to **mmedicus** for reviewing, since it was what motivated me to get this chapter up. **

**Thanks for reading my boring A/N, if you did. :D**

**And now (hopefully) enjoy this chapter and drop me a review if you'd like! :)**

**Chapter 4**

_"We would like to see you act out the scene you prepared now," the red haired woman said, smiling slightly. I hoped that it was a good sign._

_I put my guitar back in its case and put on an angry face._  
><em>"Ugh, Morgan, I know that you hate me, but why'd you have to do that?! Huh?! I didn't do anything to you and then you do this? You know, I thought we were at least somewhere close to respecting each other," my expression changed to one of sadness. "You don't even know what you started! I'm so humiliated! My boyfriend thinks I cheated on him thanks to you! He probably isn't even my boyfriend anymore...thanks a lot," I hissed, a few tears escaping my eyes.<em>

I looked down and wiped underneath my eyes. When I looked up the jury stood up and applauded me.  
>"Ms. Torres, you were just as brilliant as I was told!" Mr. Coleman exclaimed happily, making me smile widely.<br>"Thank you."  
>"You really are a talented young lady," the bald man said. I thanked him too.<br>"You Ms Torres are a true star! So unique! And you didn't even back down when we acted unconvinced, I love it!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, as if she'd been holding it in for a while. It was contagious, I couldn't stop smiling.  
>"Thank you so much, but does that mean you have a role for me?" I asked, suddenly a little shy.<br>"You're going to be our Jade Garcia of course, just like I hoped! No more need for the others to audition," Mr. Coleman said with almost as much enthusiasm as the woman, but I didn't think anyone would be able to outdo her.  
>"Oh my God! Are you serious?" I looked at them with wide eyes. They all just smiled and nodded at me. "Oh my God! Oh my God! I- thank you so much!" I shrieked, jumping down the stage to give each of them a hug. I didn't know if it was appropriate, but at that moment I couldn't have cared less.<br>After my outburst they handed me the script and told me to be back on Monday for a meeting with the whole cast.

When I finally got home and told Cait and Matt the good news, my happiness rose to heights I never thought were possible. Sharing this moment with them made me even happier, I am sure that at one point I had started tearing up. Caitlyn then had the wonderful idea to go out on a celebratory dinner later while Matt was at his friends' birthday party, which I agreed to immediately. It was amazing to have them to celebrate this important moment with me, but I was ready for some alone time with my bestie.

* * *

><p>On Monday, I woke up and realized I still had a few minutes, so I snuggled further into my warm blanket. But soon I heard the pitter-patter of Matt's small feet before he opened my door and crawled into my bed.<p>

"Hey little man, what are you doing in here already?" I asked, cuddling his body close to me.  
>"Couldn't sleep," he said cutely, burying his face in my pillows.<br>"Then come on, let's get up and get you ready for school," I nudged him.  
>"Noooo. I wanna stay home today," he whined, clinging to me.<br>"Why don't you wanna go? I thought you liked school?" I stroked his back.  
>"No. Jimmy likes Shelby, but I liked her first and now she always plays with him," he said sadly.<br>"Aww, baby. I'm sure she'll see that you're much cooler than Jimmy. Maybe you can ask her to play with you today?" I kissed his forehead.  
>"No. Can I go to work with you, please?" he begged with that pout that I always struggled to say no to.<br>"Mattster, I can't take you with me and tell the school you're sick when you're not. I'm sorry."  
>"But I don't wanna go! It makes me sad!" he clung to me.<br>"I'll make you some pancakes to cheer you up, but you have to go to school. I promise I'll take you with me the next time you don't have school, okay?" I tried to coax him, but I could already see in his face that he was going to be stubborn about it. "Alright last offer, I will tell Caity that she doesn't need to pick you up because I'll be picking you up after school to take you back to work with me," I looked at him expectantly.  
>"Okay," he nodded, looking disappointed because he still had to go to school.<br>"Come on, we have to get up or we're going to be late," I threw the blankets off us.

After I had finally gotten Matt ready for school, I rushed to get dressed. I threw on some black leggings and a tight gray tank top with a thin white sweater that hung loosely on my body. Since we were late already I just chose some flats before grabbing my handbag and dragging Matt out of the door.  
>We rushed through the streets to get to his school on time and fortunately we made it without getting hit by a car. When I looked at my watch I realized that I had roughly ten minutes to get to work. Sure, the theater was in walking distance, but it still usually took me at least twenty minutes.<p>

I arrived at the theater completely out of breath, about five minutes too late, positively blushing, which only deepened when all heads turned to me when I entered the room.

"Ah, there you are Ms Torres," said the bald man from the audition, whose name I had learned was Mr. Wallace.  
>"I am so sorry Sir, but I had to take Matthew to school and today he was a little cranky and refused to go, the only way I got him to go was if I let him come here today after school," I apologized. "I hope you don't mind if I take him here during the break," I added carefully.<br>"Of course you can bring him, you know the little man is always welcome here," Mr. Coleman interjected.  
>"Thank you, I promise he'll be doing his homework, so he won't interrupt anything," I said, still a tiny bit scared that the other executives would hate me for being late and requesting to bring a second-grader.<br>"I know, he's a good kid," Mr. Coleman smiled. I was so lucky to have him as my boss, he really cared and it kinda helped that he had the most say.  
>"Now, since that's settled, let's continue. Ms Torres, have a seat," Mr Wallace said, motioning to the only free seat next to a black haired guy that wore a bandana and thick rimmed glasses. It kind of suited him, but I had no time to look at him any longer, as the meeting continued.<p>

Shane's POV:

The girl they kept calling Miss Torres looked at me for a while before blushing and taking the seat next to me. She looked kinda hot in her tight leggings. But they were talking about a kid she had to get to school. How the hell did she have a kid already? Well I know how, but one that was already in school? She couldn't be more than 21. Oh God, pregnant at fifteen. Seems kinda slutty to me. She must have been pretty naïve.

"Let's get to know each other a little better. We'll start with Mr. Gray and then the line will continue," one of them said. Fuck. What did he say I'm supposed to start with? I'll just go with the flow, we'll probably have to introduce ourselves or something like that.  
>"Hi. I'm Shane. I'm 22 and I'm from New Jersey. I'm playing Alex Carlton and my hobbies include playing the guitar and songwriting," I said smoothly. I turned to my left and looked at the girl, waiting for her to speak up.<br>"Well, my name's Mitchie, I'm nineteen, soon twenty. I live in Manhattan and my character's name is Jade Garcia. In my free time, besides taking care of Matt, I enjoy playing the piano or the guitar and I also do some songwriting," she said with a smile. Jackpot! The hot girl, now known to me as Mitchie, was playing my love interest. I tuned out the rest of the introduction, bored already, but forced to stay in order to keep my role. I didn't really care about the role, only about the fact that it gave me a break from my asshole family, so naturally I would do everything in my power to keep it. No way was I going back there sooner than I have to.

When the introduction stuff was over we talked about our working hours and were given schedules for different coachings; voice, dance and acting. There was also added which scenes and songs we had to know or prepare for certain days. Then there was the the part where we discussed and signed our contracts. The payment was nothing major, but it was more than enough to afford living in the city.

The break came sooner than I had expected and I watched Mitchie gather up her stuff and excusing herself to leave to get her son. Weirdly enough I was really looking forward to see her kid. It had sparked some kind of curiosity in me that I couldn't explain. Mitchie herself had already proven to be cool, she was different. Good different. Not like some of the theater geeks that we were working with. We hadn't had a direct conversation with each other, but she appeared to be pretty smart and to know her music. So why would a smart girl get herself knocked up at fifteen? It was a mystery to me. She would definitely be my type, had she not had a kid. It's not that I don't like kids, I just could never be with a girl that has a kid that's not mine, I would always feel like an intruder.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't hear Mitchie pull up another chair next to me.  
>"Shane, right?" I nodded "Would you mind scooting one over, so Matt can sit next to me?"she asked. It was then that I noticed the blond boy that was slightly hiding behind her legs while looking around curiously.<br>"Yeah, sure," I said.  
>I pretended not to listen to their conversation, to be occupied with something else, but in reality I was listening to the entire thing.<p>

"I know I told you already, but it's really important that you stay in your seat and don't interrupt anybody, okay?" she asked.  
>"Yeah, but can you sing something today?" he pouted.<br>"Well we're going to practice some singing to see if our voices sound good together, so yes, I'm going to sing today kiddo," she smiled, her eyes lighting up when his face turned into one of excitement.  
>"Cool! So I get to hear everybody sing?!" he asked incredulously.<br>"That is pretty possible," she chuckled. "But you should start on your homework, so you're done when we start singing," she told him. He quickly pulled out a pencil and an exercise book before getting to work. Wow, he didn't even protest. I used to hate homework even in primary school when it was mostly coloring.  
>"Mimi? Can you help me?" he suddenly asked, tugging on her sleeve.<em> Mimi?!<em> Not _mommy_? Or _mom_? Or _mama_? What kid calls their mom Mimi?!  
>"Sure, what do you need? You don't understand the example?" he nodded. "It's much easier than they put it in your book. Basically all you need to do is," I tuned out how she explained his maths homework to him, but tuned back in just in time to catch him calling her Mimi again. It was bugging me so much that I just had to ask.<br>"Why does he keep calling you Mimi?" I asked out of the blue.  
>"Excuse me?" she asked, scrunching her eyebrows.<br>"I was just wondering why Matt doesn't call you mom or something," I explained. Matt had upon hearing his name turned his head to me.  
>"Because she <em>is<em> Mimi," he looked at me as if he thought I was stupid.  
>"So you don't call Mitchie 'mom'?" I asked.<br>"Why should I call Mimi my mom?" he asked incredulously.  
>"Well because that's what you call your mother usually, isn't it?" I questioned.<br>"Yeah, but Mimi's not my mom," he said in a _Duh_ voice.  
>"Oh...I thought she was...I'm sorry, so she's your cousin?" I asked since he looked nothing like her, so I didn't think they would be siblings.<br>"I'm not his cousin," Mitchie suddenly cut in, amused. "I'm taking care of him, but we're not related," she said.

I wanted to ask a whole more questions, but we were starting rehearsals for the first song, so I needed to focus on getting my lines right. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself after all. Shane Gray does not embarrass himself. Especially not in any matter related to music.

Mitchie's POV:

We continued rehearsing several parts of the musical until 5pm, Matt had long since finished his homework and was happily listening to the songs we practiced. Weirdly enough Shane had been the only person to ask me if Matt was my son, well not directly me, but still. Usually people would give me disapproving looks or it would be the opposite and they would coo about how cute my 'son' was. But none of that had happened. They treated me the same way they treated any other castmember.

While Matt and I were making our way out of the building, we passed Shane who was having a heated argument with, apparently, his mother.  
>"Mom I don't give a fuck," he laughed into his phone.<br>"Well at least it got your attention, I don't want to live in New Jersey. And I certainly don't want to be in a band with my idiot cousins! This whole Connect 3 thing is fucking ridiculous! If you want fame and money, do it yourself! I am done with your bullshit, don't expect me to come back any time soon!" he cursed at her. I covered Matt's ears, although he probably understood every single word, I was lucky he knew not to repeat bad words.

But wow, Shane really had no respect for his mother. I was not exactly fond of my parents, but I would never be so disrespectful. That was just wrong of him. I pulled Matthew along with me. Soon we were out on the busy streets of NYC. The way home was pretty uneventful and I was glad to finally have some time for myself. Matt was playing in his room and Caitlyn was making dinner later on, so I used my spare time to take a relaxing bath in our small bathtub. Sometimes I missed the luxury of my old life, but I was too exhausted to care about the size of my bathtub.

I closed my eyes and let the warm water and the scent of my bubble bath soothe me. My thoughts wandered from subject to subject; at first it was Matt, then it was my new job and finally I got stuck on Shane. I didn't know much about him, but at first I had thought he was a nice guy, slightly cocky, but still nice. Hearing him talk to his mother the way he had made me question that though. But I didn't know, he seemed to have a reason that made him act that way, so maybe I had judged too soon. I didn't even know why I was thinking about him that much. Sure, he didn't look bad, he actually was pretty attractive, but I shouldn't even be thinking that about my colleague. _Who plays your love interest,_ a voice in the back of my head said. I couldn't start a relationship with him, I didn't even know if he liked me or found me attractive. But I was getting _way_ ahead of myself there. Besides '_You should never mix business with pleasure_,' wasn't that what people said?

Since my bath had kind of been ruined by my conscious, I decided to just do my nails and listen to some music, preferably Ed Sheeran's latest album or some Sara Bareilles. Something calming.


End file.
